Noble Rot – The episode begins with a very brief chase scene that ends with what appears to be the detainment of the fleeing female. Colter Shaw’s (Justin Hartley) ensuing conversation with Velma Bruin (Abby McEnany) will identify the lady as Quinn Ridgely (Jessica Sutton), CEO of a new software company and their new missing client. It’s mere seconds later when Colter joins Reenie Greene (Fiona Rene) at a super posh Napa, California resort/vineyard combo. She isn’t alone and despite being polite, Elliott Rusch (Michael Rady) wastes little time introducing himself as Reenie’s plus-one for the weekend.
Reenie briefly explains her presence at the retreat’s Corporate Leadership Summit Seminar while simultaneously encouraging Colter to take a softer-than-average approach with the owner. Despite the circumstances, it would appear she had a difficult time convincing him to bring in outside help. Reenie shares what little more she knows about the situation as they make their way to question Gray Ridgely (Sophia Lauchlin Hirt).
Gray initially has little to add to Reenie’s story, until Colter asks about the sheets on the couch. Gray admits that their relationship was suffering due to their different visions for the company. Before examining the supposed abduction site, Colter also learns that their company had been targeted by kidnappers once before. After viewing the bathroom, it doesn’t take Colter long to suspect that Quinn wasn’t abducted from the bathroom but merely left on her own.
Colter is in the middle of teasing Reenie about Elliot when William Locke (Neil Jackson) interrupts with his head of security, Peter Reynolds (Roshawn Franklin). This turns into a confrontation the minute Colter realizes he isn’t wanted or welcomed. Things only get worse when William uses his signing of an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) as an excuse for not granting them access to the security footage.
Bobby Exley (Eric Graise) is trying to enjoy his latest purchase when Colter calls with requests for him to breach the resort’s security system. Due to the system not being connected to an outside network the only way to view the footage is connected directly to the resort’s mainframe. The best Bobby can do for now is provide the possible location of the server.
Reenie has to use her feminine wiles to outwit one of the guards (Eddie Canelea) and steal his badge, but does so with ease. It’s only minutes later after passing the badge off that she joins Colter in the server room where they proceed to bickering back-and-forth about Elliott and Billie Matalon (Sofia Pernas). Despite the arguing, Colter realizes something has been spliced out of one of the scenes. Once Bobby works his magic, Colter and Reenie watch Quinn meet and willingly leave with someone. They are eventually interrupted by the guard who takes them to meet with Reynolds.
Elliott is practically already waiting on Colter and Reenie by the time they are delivered to Reynolds’s office. He will briefly comment on them calling their lawyer because they know they are in trouble, but much to his surprise, Reenie claims she’s called Elliott for him. She then proceeds to use her law knowledge and his lack of to scare him into revealing the truth about the security footage. It’s mere seconds after this that they arrive to question William in a similar manner. He flips even faster than Reynolds and claims that Quinn approached him about his holistic approach to combating stress.
William’s confession leads them to an undeveloped area of the resort. Although the area doesn’t currently have any camera coverage, that will likely change when they break ground next week for the villas. There also just happens to be an old cistern where Colter discovers a decomposing foot. It is later determined that the foot is far too decomposed to be Quinn’s, leaving Colter to suspect that Quinn may have stumbled into something that she wasn’t meant to see.
Colter encounters a maintenance worker, Rona (Gloria Garayua), later that evening when he returns to the area alone. She initially attempts to get rid of him until he briefly explains his presence. He is also inquisitive enough to scare her into calling and warning someone about his snooping around. Colter’s conversation with Bobby reveals that was his intent all along. Although Bobby cannot identify the caller, he can trace the location. This leads Colter to a basement-level room where he discovers the rest of the decomposing body in a barrel. He also just happens to notice that he’s been watched which gives him just enough time to get the jump on his soon-to-be attacker.
Colter not only deftly deals with the assailant but gets him to reveal that he works for Jesse Pardue (Rob Mays). Despite the confession, he claims that he had nothing to do with Quinn and she was alive the last time he saw her. The footage abruptly cuts to a brief scene of Quinn barging for her life while being held captive by Jesse and Rona. From what little bit she says, it appears that Colter was right about her accidentally stumbling into something that she was intended to see.
Reynolds provides background on Pardue as a contractor and beats himself up for missing the connection as he and Colter race toward his house. Reynolds receives words that the police have already arrived at Pardue’s but didn’t find anything. Colter calls Velma to request a list of nearby job sites where Pardue worked.
Velma provides the address that leads Colter and Reynolds to where Quinn is being held. Before they arrive Pardue’s conversation with Rona reveals that Pardue didn’t actually kill anyone, although he was employing illegal immigrants and allowing them to work under unsafe conditions. Rather than face the music, he attempted to dispose of the bodies himself. This is what Quinn had stumbled into. Rona contests for Quinn’s life but this only leads to a dispute. Pardue knocks Rona out and is in the process of dragging Quinn to a nearby wood chipper when Colter shows up. He distracts Pardue, giving Reynolds the opportunity to approach from behind. He does and will soon draw Pardue’s attention but it is Rona who shows up unexpectedly and shoots Pardue, causing him to stumble into the chipper.
Tracker Review
There was nothing great about the episode. The entire thing felt like one huge woke agenda to me. I won’t go as far as saying this series has become nearly unwatchable but I would be very surprised if it gets a season 3. It’s not that all completely bad, but it’s certainly not very inspiring. Since I don’t have cable, I don’t really know much about network TV these days, but I couldn’t imagine too many people making an effort to turn in weekly.
I really liked the resort theme, the corporate retreat, and the holistic toad venom deal. All of those could have been more intriguing approaches but what do they go with? The exploitation of poor undocumented migrant workers. Episode 4 gets a 4.6 out of 10.
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